Bush Leads Huskies To Big Win Over No. 14 Gophers

Thursday, November 7

Minneapolis, MN

5:00 PM

University of Washington

18-5,8-5Big Ten

Minnesota

16-7,9-4Big Ten

Washington

Minnesota

November 07, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF

By: UW Athletic Communications

MINNEAPOLIS – This one just meant more. Facing former UW head coach Keegan Cook's Gophers squad for the first time, Washington Volleyball pulled together one of its most impressive efforts of the year and upset 14^th-ranked Minnesota inside its home Maturi Pavilion in front of 4,811 fans. Junior Emoni Bush shifted to the left side for tonight's match and delivered a career-high-tying 19 kills to lead UW to its second Top-20 upset in the past three matches.

The Huskies (18-5, 8-5 Big Ten) controlled the first set and then had a huge rally from seven points down to steal set two. After the Gophers (16-7, 9-4 Big Ten) responded with a third set win, the Huskies refocused and closed it out in the fourth; final scores were 25-21, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22.

Washington had its best serving night of the season with 13 aces and just two service errors. Freshman Julia Hunt was on fire and served UW back into the second set when it was down 11-18. Hunt doubled her previous career-high in aces as she had six tonight.

Head Coach Leslie Gabriel said "We knew Minnesota was a great team with great players and well-coached. We just wanted to strengthen who we are as a team competitively and as individuals. They've got a great home environment with a big crowd, so can we be the team we wanted in that environment and stay disciplined and within ourselves. Can we just stay focused on that, and I thought they did a really nice job. They did it together."

??????????, ??????????!!#PointHuskies // @NCAAVolleyball // @B1GVolleyball pic.twitter.com/t2SQPDNXqe
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 8, 2024

Bush had 19 kills on 59 swings and added 12 digs. Madi Endsley fought her way to 10 kills including a huge seven of those coming in the deciding fourth set. Molly Wilson had a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs plus four blocks as she played all the way around tonight. Katy Wessels made a big impact with five kills, hitting .571, with a team-high six blocks.

"One thing that's great about these players is they're very flexible and filling the roles we needed for the match," said Gabriel. "They play multiple positions and do what we need. I'm proud of Emoni, she did a really nice job managing her swings tonight."

DAWGS doggone DID IT!!

Down goes No. 14 Minnesota.

This one just meant more. ????#PointHuskies x @NCAAVolleyball x @B1GVolleyball pic.twitter.com/Hj779C1PJ7
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 8, 2024

Up Next: Washington heads straight home to prep for one of the biggest matches of the year, a home battle with No. 2 Nebraska on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Only a few seats remain as it could potentially be the first sellout in program history.

Not reposting, this is a new clip.

Julia Hunt's SIXTH ace!#PointHuskies x #B1GVolleyball pic.twitter.com/iwQK9LBaku
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 8, 2024

Set One: Minnesota scored the first two points before a rejection from Wessels and Fletcher got the Huskies on the board. Zoria Heard aced the Gophers for 3-all. Hunt killed her first swing on a slide and then went back and served an ace for 6-6. The Huskies took their first lead at 8-7 and pushed it to two at 11-9 on a block by Wessels and Fletcher. Minnesota had a 3-0 run to retake the lead at 13-14, but Bush ended it with a kill for 14-all. Washington made two errors in three points to fall behind by four, 14-18, and took their first timeout. Bush tipped for a kill out of the break and then a UM error pulled the Huskies a point closer. A Hunt serve was overpassed and Wessels hit it down for 18-19, and then Wessels and Wilson teamed up for a stuff and the Dawgs were even at 19-19. Endsley slammed a high-hands kill to put the Huskies back up, 21-20, and then a Gophers error made it 22-20 and they took their last timeout. Minnesota scored on a setter dump out of the break, but then served long for 23-21. Endsley then fired the fourth ace of the set as the Dawgs reached set point, and on the first chance, a triple block of Bush, Fletcher, and Wessels turned one away to end it, 25-21.

Set Two: Fletcher ripped down a kill for 2-1 early in the set. A rejection from Hunt and Wilson made it 4-3 dawgs. Kills by Fletcher and Wessels had it locked up at 8-8 but then Minnesota made a move with a 4-0 run that included two Husky attack errors, with one UW challenge for a touch that was unsuccessful. Bush put one off the block and down to end the run for 9-12. A Gophers ace made it 10-15 at the media timeout, and then Minnesota had another 3-0 run to force a Husky timeout at 11-18. Hunt tooled the block to get the sideout, and then Hunt aced Minnesota twice in a row to pull UW back within four at 14-18. The Dawgs challenged for another touch and this time they got it on a Wessels swing to make it 15-18. Then Hunt dialed up two more aces in a row, her fourth and fifth, to make it 17-18. She finally sailed one long to snap the 6-0 run, but Bush terminated to get the serve right back, and then Wilson aced the Gophers for 19-all. Wilson didn't get aces but put the Gophers in trouble two more times and UW put down transition kills off the hands of Fletcher and Wessels for 21-19. Minnesota got back even but a Wessels kill for 23-22 was followed by a Bays serve dropped to the back line for another ace for set point at 24-22. UW missed one chance with a swing just barely out by Fletcher, but on the next point, Minnesota put a long bump set too tight and Hunt went up to hammer it down and UW took the set, 25-23. Washington scored 14 of the final 19 points after trailing 11-18.

Set Three: Kills from Fletcher and Bush gave the Dawgs an early 3-1 lead in the third. Minnesota took the lead with three straight but a Bush kill and Hunt's sixth ace made it 6-5. Minnesota had another 3-0 run to force a Husky timeout at 6-8. Out of the break, Wessels ended a long rally with a block for 7-8, but Minnesota scored the next five in a row to make it 7-13 before Sophia Tulino put one down on the right to snap it. A Gopher ace made it a seven-point Husky deficit. Consecutive points on a Hunt-Wilson block and an Endsley kill made it 13-21 but that was as close as the Huskies got. Minnesota forced a fourth with a 25-14 final.

Set Four: A kill by Bush and a block built by Fletcher and Hunt accounted for a 2-0 lead. Bush and Endsley had back-to-back kills for 5-3 Dawgs. Endsley bagged two more kills for 8-6 before the Gophers scored three-straight. Bush snapped that with a finish for 10-10. Bush tied it again at 12-12 with her 17^th kill. An ace from Bush and a Gopher error got the Dawgs to the media timeout with the 15-14 lead. A huge one-fisted dig over her back by Heard led to Endsley finding a seam and pounding down a kill for 18-17 Dawgs, and then a Gopher error prompted a UM timeout at 19-17. Out of the break, Wilson served one perfectly between two passers and it was shanked for an ace and a three-point lead. Minnesota answered with two and the Huskies took time at 20-19. Endsley got a kill out of the break and then Fletcher and Wessels ended a long rally with a block. A kill from Bush off a Lauren Bays bump set made it 23-20, but again Minnesota scored two-straight to force the last Husky timeout at 23-22. Minnesota had swings to tie it but finally Hunt and Bush blocked them back to get to match point at 24-22. The Dawgs grabbed their chance, as Wilson went to Bush in transition on the left pin and she capped it off with a swing off the block for 25-22.